How Come, How Long?, a high school musical fanfic

Author's Note: So, this is a new songfic using the song called 'How Come, How Long' by Babyface and Stevie Wonder. I absolutely adore this song and it's so true. This is not SLASH. So don't worry. Oh, this was yet another story that I started earlier this month but I forgot about it. So now that I remembered it…it's complete. So I hope that you like it. Oh and the main pairing is Gabriella/OC. You'll see why when you read. So please read. Please. It's really good. Enjoy

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There was a girl I used to know
She was oh so beautiful
But she's not here anymore
She had a college degree
Smart as anyone could be
She had so much to live for
But she fell in love
With the wrong kind of man
He abused her love and treated her so bad
There was not enough education in her world
That could save the life of this little girl

I looked at my surroundings: Pews, people, cathedral ceilings, preacher and a casket. So now I can guess that you can figure out that I'm at a funeral, a funeral for someone who didn't deserve to die. How could this happen to her? Why was she the one? Why?

I remember when I received that call from Taylor and I automatically knew that it was important because I could tell that she was crying hysterically.

"Taylor what's wrong? Is it Chad?" I asked worried.

"No Troy, it's not Chad…it's Gabriella." She said slowly.

"What's wrong with Gabriella?" I asked now panicking.

"She's d-dead." Taylor stuttered before completely breaking down over the phone.

"What? No! No, no, no! Please Taylor…please tell me that it isn't true. Please!" I shouted through my tears.

"Troy…it's the truth. It was…him." She said softly and I knew who she meant by 'him'. I remember crumbling to the ground, crying so hard that I couldn't think straight. I don't even remember hanging up the phone. It was all too much.

I guess you want to know who him is. Well, him is Michael Edmonds and he was the worst thing to ever happen to Gabriella. She and I had dated during 10th grade and a little bit of 11th grade before breaking up and of course we ended up being friends afterwards. She was the type of girl who you wanted to be great friends with. Pretty, popular and all around a terrific person.

Anyway, our whole group ended up spread around for college. Taylor went to Stanford, Gabriella attended Yale, Chad and I went to UCLA for basketball, Sharpay and Ryan attended NYU for musical theater and so on. We were all saddened that we had to leave each other but we agreed to meet each other over every break that we were home. And we did just that- every time. It would be so much fun to just catch up and talk about old times. Then during summer break before our senior year in college we met Michael. I had known that something was wrong when I first laid eyes on him. I noticed that he was really protective of Gabriella…like he was afraid of losing her. I also noticed how he would scowl silently when some looked at her in a flirtatious or sexual way. I had talked to Chad about it afterwards but he just laughed and said that us men are always a little jealous when another man looks at our women. I agreed with him…I mean it was nothing to worry about…right?

Wrong.

Our next little get together was Spring Break and something happened that caught everyone's attention.

We were all sitting down, at the table we normally eat at, just waiting for our meals to arrive. Gabriella of course had Michael tag along with her and I didn't like it. I looked over at Sharpay and noticed that she was staring intently at Gabriella. I followed her gaze and saw a circular, purple mark on her arm. I'm surprised that I didn't notice it before. I was about to say something but Sharpay beat me to the punch.

"Gabriella, how did you get that?" She asked pointing to her arm and I quickly seen Gabriella's expression turn from happy to scared.

"Umm…I…" She stuttered, glancing back and forth between Michael and Sharpay. Before she could really answer, Michael had taken over.

"She just ran into a wall the other day. Right Gabriella?" He said looking at her through gritted teeth.

"Right." She said agreeing. Then for the rest of the night she rarely talked.

How come, how long
It's not right, it's so wrong
Do we let it just go on
Turn our backs and carry on
Wake up, for it's too late
Right now, we can't wait
She won't have a second try
Open up your hearts
As well as your eyes

As we were about to leave the restaurant I, caught up to Gabriella and Michael and tapped her on her shoulder.

"Yeah?" She asked.

"Can I talk to you for a few minutes?" I asked. She looked over to Michael for what seemed like permission to speak to me with out him around. He looked over at me, nodded and said,

"5 minutes and that's it." He said before walking away from us.

"So, is everything alright?" I asked beginning the conversation.

"What, do you think that something is wrong?" She asked quickly.

"I never asked if anything was wrong, Gabriella. I just wanted to see if everything was alright for you. I mean, you barely said anything at dinner." I pointed out.

"Well, everything is great. School is great, everything is great. Michael wants me to move in with him this summer. Everything is just fine." She said talking to her hand rather than me.

"Gabriella…you don't have to lie to me." I said to her.

"I'm not lying, Troy."

I sighed and said, "Alright Gabriella. Just promise that if anything is wrong then you will call me and tell me."

"I promise Troy." She said finally looking at me. But I couldn't decipher if she was lying or not.

"Ok." I said before hugging her and I thought that I heard her wince at my touch. I was going to say something about it but didn't have a chance because Michael had called her to the car.

"C'mon, Gabriella!" He yelled. I let go of her and she gave me a half smile before walking away.

She tried to give a cry for help
She even blamed things on herself
But no one came to her aid
Nothing was wrong as far as we could tell
That's what we'd like to tell ourselves
But no, it wasn't that way
So she fell in love
With the wrong kind of man
And she paid with her life
For loving that man
So we cannot ignore
We must look for the signs
And maybe next time
We might save somebody's life

After college was over, Chad and I stayed in California because we became team members of the Lakers. Taylor of course moved in with Chad. Sharpay and Ryan both unsurprisingly ended up on Broadway, while Gabriella stayed in Connecticut with Michael, like she had said that she would. We still all still agreed to get together every once in a while. We did that a few times, and every time we would see Gabriella we would notice more bruises on her. We would of course ask what happened and she and Michael would give some BS excuse for it. We all knew what was going on…we should have confronted her about it but we didn't know how. So we just ignored it. I didn't want to but what could I do? So the last time we were all free was when Gabriella had called me to say that she couldn't make it. Of course I questioned her as to why.

"Troy it's very complicated." She told me.

"Gabriella just tell me!" I demanded. I knew that he had something to do with it.

"Troy, calm down. Michael just doesn't want to come this time around." She explained.

"Then why don't you come?" I asked her. By that point I was getting really frustrated. It was like he had some sort of control over her.

"Troy…I-" She began but was cut off by a yelling. I recognized it as Michael's voice. " I have to go Troy. I'll talk to you later."

Little did I know, that would be the last time that I would talk to her.

I on occasion met that guy
He stirred up bad feelings deep inside
Something about him wasn't right
The way he proves himself a man
By beating his woman with his hands
Oh I wish she'd seen the light
How can someone like that
Call himself a man
In reality he's far more less than that
And we cannot ignore
Whenever we see the signs
'Cause any kind of abuse
God knows is a crime

"Now, Troy Bolton, who was a close friend of Gabriella, would like to say a few words." The pastor said. I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand before walking up to the podium.

I looked around at all of the people who had came to bid farewell to Gabriella. There were people who I recognized from East High, different teachers, including Ms. Darbus, Sharpay, Ryan, Chad, Taylor and the list goes on and on. I then looked at Gabriella's mom, who was silently crying in the front row. She had no idea as to what was going on with her daughter.

I shook my head before starting. "You know I don't even know where to begin. There was so much to know about Gabriella, that it would take a while to get it all out. She was so wonderful. She was one of the smartest girls I knew, next to her best friend Taylor. It's a damn shame for what happen. She didn't have to go like that. She didn't have to go at all. She had plenty more time on this earth. But some selfish man- no some selfish boy took away her life." I said before pausing and then starting back up again. "You know, I felt that something was wrong when I first met Michael. He just rubbed me the wrong way. And now I feel as if Gabriella's death is somewhat my fault. I had seen it coming. I saw every bruise and the way that she would tense up when we would mention it. I just wish that she would have said something to one of us. We could've helped her. Maybe she would be here with us and not lying in a freaking casket! Or maybe she just thought that it was nothing. That she could handle it on her own. H-he went too far that day and she didn't have anyone there to help her. N-now we know the deadly consequences of abuse. Or any other kind of abuse. So people learn from my mistakes…if you have any reason to think that someone is getting abused then please let someone know or confront that person. Maybe…just maybe…you could save a person's life. Gabriella will not have a second chance but maybe someone else can." I said finishing. I walked over to Gabriella's casket and brushed my hand across her cold face.

"I'm sorry Gabriella. I wish that I could have saved you." I said kissing her on her forehead, getting a few tears on her in the process, "I'm sorry." I said before walking back to my seat.

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Author's Note: So what did you guys think? I really hope that you liked it. So please review and tell me what you think. Thanks!

April